Method of roofing



April 12, 1966 E. R. HILSON METHOD or ROOFING Filed June 4 1963 United States Patent M 3,245,192 METHOD OF ROOFING Eugene R. Hilson, Cincinnati, Ohio (7220 SW. 47th Ave, Miami, Fla.) Filed June 4, 1963, Ser. No. 285,504 2 Claims. (Cl. 52-746) This invention relates to a method of roofing houses or other buildings.

Conventional roofing is normally installed upon a building by first nailing 4 x 8 plywood sections to the building. Waterproof paper is then placed over the plywood and thirdly, the roofing shingles are individually nailed to the plywood in overlapping fashion. It can be appreciated that a substantial number of man hours as well as skill is required to properly complete the above process. Furthermore, it is extremely difficult to properly apply the waterproof paper to the roof under windy conditions. Consequently, one object of the present invention is to provide an improved method of roofing which eliminates man hours required in the conventional process and reduces the degree of skill required.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method of roofing which eliminates the conventional step of placing waterproof paper on the roof.

Related objects and advantages will become apparent as the description proceeds.

One embodiment of the present invention might include the steps of placing waterproof rectangular plywood panels upon the roof of a building, said panels being marked with spacing lines to locate the shingle positions, securing the panels to the building by nailing or the like, covering and sealing the cracks between the panels with waterproof tape or alternatively sealing said cracks with mastic, securing guide boards to the building in such a manner that they extend horizontally across the building and moving a cart carrying a string of shingles across the building in such a manner that the shingles are payed out on the panels, said cart being guided in said movement by said guide boards, said shingles being stacked in accordion fashion upon the cart to facilitate paying out, and securing the string of shingles to the roof.

The full nature of the invention will be understood from the accompanying drawings and the following description and claims.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the top of a building illustrating the various steps of applicants method.

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of a cart used in the practicing of applicants process and shown in perspective in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary top plan view of the cart of FIG. 2.

For the purposes of promoting an understanding of the principles of the invention, reference will now be made to the embodiment illustrated in the drawing and specific language will be used to describe the same. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of the invention is thereby intended, such alterations and further modifications in the illustrated device, and such further applications of the principles of the invention as illustrated therein being contemplated as would normally occur to one skilled in the art to which the invention rela-tes.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, there is illustrated a building 10. A plurality of 4 x 8 plywood panels 11 are secured to the top of the building by nailing or the like. This step is accomplished in conventional fashion expect for the fact that the panels 11 are made waterproof at the factory and prior to their being secured in place. This waterproofing operation is accomplished by either impregnating the plywood with a waterproofing material such as asphalt or by painting, or treating with 3,245,192 Patented Apr. 12, 1966 other waterproofing material or by the attachment of plastic film, or the attachment of conventional waterproofing paper to the panels at the factory. Suitable waterproofing paper for this purpose might be that known as Slaters felt and manufactured by the Phillip Carey Manufacturing Company or The Johns Manville Company. The adhered building paper may extend over the edge of the plywood to cap the adjoining pieces of plywood as they are placed together. The panels are also marked at the factory with the lines 13 which are used to locate the positions of the shingles on the roof as described below.

After the panels 11 have been secured to the building, waterproof {tape 12 is placed over and in sealing relation to the cracks 15 between the various panels. This tape can be applied by a tape dispenser which might incorporate sharp guide wheels to maintain the dispenser over the cracks. Alternatively, the tape could be applied manually by use of a conventional dispenser. Instead of waterproof tape, mastic or other suitable such waterproofing material can be used to seal the cracks between the panels.

Next, a plurality of guide boards 16 are secured to the roof so as to extend horizontally completely thereacross. These guide boards might be, for example, 1 x 2 stock or the like, The guide boards are positioned relative to the horizontally extending tape or in other words, relative to the horizontally extending cracks 15 between the panels. Alternatively, the roof peak can be used instead of guide boards as a guide surface in the manner described below. As can be seen from FIG. 1, the horizontally extending boards 16 are each spaced equally from a respective group of aligned horizontally extending cracks 15.

The purpose of guide members 16 is to guide a cart 17 which carries a stack or string of shingles 20. The shingles 21 in the stack of shingles are conventional and are identical to commercially available shingles with the except-ion that the respective shingles are secured together in a string and are foldably connected along the hinged connections 22., said shingles also being stacked accordion fashion within the cart 17. That is, at each of the foldable connections 22, the shingles are folded over upon themselves as illustrated in FIG. 1.

The cart 17 has three side members 25, 26 and 27 which define a receptacle 28 for said shingles. The open side 39 of the receptacle is used to pay out the shingles upon the panels 11. The side member 26 is received Within grooves 29A in the side members and 27 and can be removed and remounted at the opposite end of the cart within grooves 29B so that shingles can be payed out in the opposite direction.

As can be seen in FIG. 2, the cart 17 is provided with wheels 31 which are rotatably mounted upon brackets 32 secured to the base of the cart. The cart further includes a framework made up of the members 35 and 36. Secured to the members 35 is an angle 37. The attachment of the angle 37 to the members 35 is not a permanent one and is accomplished by a projecting member or bolt 40 having no nut upon its upper end but fixed to the angle 37. The members 35 each have a plurality of equally spaced bores 41 therethrough. The bores 41 are used to adjust the position of the cart relative to the angle 37. After each string 20 of shingles has been payed out upon the roof, the cart is raised away from the angle 37 and the projecting members 40 are placed within a new set of bores 41 whereby the next passage of the cart across the roof will position the next string of shingles one step higher. Of course, the boards 16 would be removed after the shingles have been laid up to the respective boards.

Further details of the cart 17 include a board 42 secured to the distal ends of the boards 35 to maintain them equally spaced. The receptacle 28 further includes a base member 43 which is fixed to the members 35 and to the members 25 and 27.

It is intended that one man would operate the paying out process by moving the cart 17 after the free end of the string of shingles has been secured in position by a stapler 45. Various types of stapling machines may be used or conventional nailing may .be used if desired. A second man would follow the cart 17 with the stapler 45 and would staple the shingles 21 to the roof. The lines 13 assist the stapler operator in properly positioning the shingles on the roof.

Alternatively, the roof peak can be used as a guide surface instead of or in addition to the guide boards 16. In such a situation, the angle 37 would engage the peak in the same manner as it is shown as engaging the guide boards.

It will be appreciated from the above description that the present invention provides an improved method of roofing which eliminates man hours required in the conventional process and reduces the degree of skill required. Thus, the present process does not require the attachment of waterproof paper to the roof and furthermore, does not require the precise positioning of the various shingles by a skilled roofing man. This positioning is accomplished automatically by the cart.

While the invention has been illustrated and described in detail in the drawings and foregoing description, the same is to be considered as illustrative and not restrictive in character, it being understood that only the preferred embodiment has been shown and described and that all changes and modifications that come within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the claims are also desired to be protected.

The invention claimed is:

1. A method of roofing comprising placing panels on a building, securing said panels to the building to cover same, providing straight horizontally extending guide means extending across said building, placing a guide element in engagement with said guide means for horizontal movement across said building, placing a cart having a series of apertures therethrough on said guide element with the guide element projecting through certain of said apertures, simultaneously moving the cart carrying a string of shingles thereon across said building and paying out the shingles on the panels, securing the string of shingles to the roof, lifting the cart away from the guide element and again placing the cart in engagement with said guide element with the guide element projecting through further ones of said apertures whereby said cart is repositioned relative to said building, simultaneously moving the cart with a further string of shingles thereon across said building and paying out said further string of shingles in overlapping fashion on said first string of shingles, and securing the further string of shingles to the roof.

2. A method of roofing comprising marking a plurality of waterproof rectangular panels with lines to indicate shingle location, placing said panels on the building, securing said panels to the building, covering and sealing the cracks between said panels with waterproof tape, securing guide boards to the building in such a manner that they extend horizontally across the building, paying out a string of accordion-folded shingles on said panels by unfolding the shingles in first one direction and then in the opposite direction by moving a cart carrying the shingles across said building, said cart being guided in said movement by said guide boards, positioning said shingles on said panels according to the positions of said lines, and securing the string of shingles to the roof.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS Re. 15,439 8/1922 Ferguson 259 388,700 8/1888 Manahan 5078 1,618,768 2/1927 Marks 50-194 1,668,269 5/1928 Faison 5078 X 2,373,239 4/1945 Fenn 50-53l X 2,857,632 10/1958 Gonser 204 X 2,874,652 2/1959 Wilson 50198 3,122,862 3/1964 Figge 50-537 FOREIGN PATENTS 210,363 5/ 1909 Germany. 380,789 6/ 1940 Italy.

CHARLES E. OCONNELL, Primary Examiner.

I ACOB SHAPIRO, EARL I. WITMER, Examiners. 

2. A METHOD OF ROOFING COMPRISING MARKING A PLURALITY OF WATERPROOF RECTANGULAR PANELS WITH LINES TO INDICATE SHINGLE LOCATION, PLACING SAID PANELS ON THE BUILDING, SECURING SAID PANELS TO THE BUILDING, COVERING AND SEALING THE CRACKS BETWEEN SAID PANELS WITH WATERPROOF TAPE, SECURING GUIDE BOARDS TO THE BUILDING IN SUCH A MANNER THAT THEY EXTEND HORIZONTALLY ACROSS THE BUILDING, PAYING OUT A STRING OF ACCORDION-FOLDED SHINGLES ON SAID PANELS BY UNFOLDING THE SHINGLES IN FIRST ONE DIRECTION AND THEN IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION BY MOVING A CART CARRYING THE SHINGLES ACROSS SAID BUILDING, SAID CART BEING GUIDED IN SAID MOVEMENT BY SAID GUIDE BOARDS, POSITIONING SAID SHINGLES ON SAID PANELS ACCORDING TO THE POSITIONS OF SAID LINES, AND SECURING THE STRING OF SHINGLES TO THE ROOF. 